From my heart to these pages

Month

January 2016

Picture the scene… You wander into Starbucks, place your order and wait for the dreaded question “your name please?” … You give your name…the barista asks you to repeat…you do so, they repeat it back and write it down… Relief, they pronounced it right…there’s hope. Minutes later you hear the call…”skinny chai latte for Saroorf”… Pause… All eyes turn to you as you quickly accept the drink and walk away!
A common occurrence, apart from in my local Starbucks where they know my name (yay Folkestone!)! (I drink way too much Starbucks!)

But…it has to be said…I am thankful it’s not my job to write names on the cup! Lots of people send me videos and links about names being spelt wrong on purpose… I think it’s more like, take an order, take payment, take the name, process all three (plus more!!) while continuing polite conversation with customer – and try to get it all correct! Recipe for disaster, unless you’re crazy gifted in multitasking! I’m amazed the names make it on the cup!

I embrace my many names, and wait with anticipation to see how many more variations there might be… Here’s just a few…

Like this:

That’s who we are as Christ’s body…as the church…as family…as the many different ministries all living out the message they believe they have received from God.
I love the vast array of diversity across believers. The many different aspects of the revelations, theories and beliefs they’re sharing. I have no excuse for not being ‘well fed’ with the abundance of all that’s available, from round the world! It’s like a giant all you can eat buffet that never ends….all I have to do is go eat!

What I find sad is when one ministry feels to criticise another…often via the Internet, namely social media. We can be so quick to alert the world with ‘warnings’ about what another believer/ministry is doing, when their stream of thought goes against our stream of thought. It breaks my heart every time. Every negative post pitted against a brother or sister in Christ brings division in the body, disunity in the family. It stirs gossip and negativity.

We’re supposed to build each other up…cheer each other on…carry each other…

I recently joined Patricia Kings Women In Ministry Network ( WIMN ) and here I have encountered women from across the world, all championing different causes. The wonderful part is everyone is out to celebrate what the other does – and we all do very different things! There is no criticism, no condemnation, no judging, just a whole lot of cheering each other on!

We are one body, heading in one direction. If the enemy can bring division in that body, then he’s laughing because he has easily distracted us from adding more. I may not be in full agreement for the focus of every single ministry in the world (!!), but I want to be someone who celebrates the diversity in this big Jesus loving family!

Let’s be the ones who encourage and build people up, not tear them down.

Like this:

Those dreams…The ones you think can never happen…It’s too late…they’re too big…maybe even unrealistic…

They’re the dreams to keep pursuing.
They’re not wrong…it’s never too late…and no matter how big they are, they’re not out of reach.

Last year a very big dream of mine “came true”… It happened after I’d looooooooong given up wondering whether it could ever happen, I had no hope left in that area, it seemed impossible. In fact truth be known, pain had helped me build a wall around my heart that stopped me dreaming almost altogether…
It just takes one glimpse of hope to knock that wall down…
Now… Now I’m dreaming bigger…and not just dreaming…but believing.
We’re created to dream, with our minds and imaginations focused on things that are good, we can soar high into the realm of impossible possibilities! In that place anything can happen…and will happen!
Dream big dreams and then run…run after them! Don’t let them go…
Hold tight to hope and keep believing!

Like this:

I’m not one for making resolutions…mainly because I know my inconsistent lifestyle consistently breaks them!

This year I entered 2016 with a silent resolve in my heart…purpose…intentionality…consistency… Just three of the words I’m holding on to every day.

Dreams…hopes…desires…we all have them…even if we don’t acknowledge them or lock them away in a mode of denial, because it’s too painful to think about what could be that might never be. I’ve done it for so long, thought about the “one day” and the “if only”, and then allowed the constant busyness of day to day life to consume me and distract me.

This year I’m living with intentionality. No longer waiting for the “one day” dreams to magically occur and fall in my lap…instead purposefully making decisions to see things happen. I’m expectant…I’m believing…I’m ready!

2015 – you’ve shaped me for more, and I’m going after it with everything in me!